December 1, 2019 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 01.12.2019, 19:45
National Day — Romania’s national day is the most emotional celebration of the Romanian nation and a symbol of freedom, being equally a celebration of democracy, of our fundamental rights and liberties, said Sunday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the reception organized at the Cotroceni Palace. On December 1 Romania marked 101 years since the creation of the Romanian unitary nation state. As many as 4 thousand military and experts and around 200 vehicles participated in Bucharest in a traditional military parade. The event, which was attended by President Klaus Iohannis, also involved the participation of 500 military from 21 allied countries. Various events took place in other cities of Romania. Another military parade was held Sunday in Alba Iulia, in the center, the place of the Great Union of December 1, 1918, in the presence of the PM Ludovic Orban. The Romanian military on mission in the theaters of operations in Afghanistan, the western Balkans, Mali, Iraq and Poland also participated in military ceremonies to mark the national day.
Washington — The American president Donald Trump conveyed a message to his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of Romania’s national day. Romania is a precious ally for the US and NATO, shows the message of the White House. Also the American president hailed Romania’s firm commitment in relation to sharing responsibilities and trans-Atlantic security. Donald Trump also expressed appreciation for Romania’s commitment to consolidate the common values of democracy, the rule of law and the free market economy.
EU – The new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen takes office on December 1. The EU members have decided that the new Commission will have only 27 commissioners, after Great Britain refused to appoint a commissioner in the context of Brexit. The Romanian Adina Valean with the European Peoples Party has been appointed Transport Commissioner. The first official meeting of the College of Commissioners takes place on December 4, when several administrative decisions will be made.
Albania — Romania on Sunday sent humanitarian aid to Albania, which was hit by a powerful earthquake on Tuesday. Two C-130 Hercules planes of the Romanian Air Forces carried the humanitarian aid and brought back to Romania the 52 firefighters and their equipment, as they participated alongside other countries in the search and rescue operations undertaken there. These operations officially came to an end on Sunday. The Albanian PM Edi Rama announced that 51 people died in the 6.4 magnitude quake, several hundreds were wounded and thousands were left homeless. The most affected cities are Thumane in the north, Durres on the Adriatic Sea coast and the capital Tirana.
Handball – Romania’s national women’s handball team obtained its first victory at the world championship hosted by Japan, defeating the team of Senegal 29-24 on Sunday, in Kumamoto, in the championship’s Group C. On Saturday, in their first match, the Romanian handballers were defeated by Spain 31-16. In the other matches of the group, Montenegro defeated Kazakhstan 30-21 and Spain defeated Hungary 29-25. Romania’s next match is scheduled for December 3, against Kazakhstan. As of 1957 until 2017 Romania’s women’s team has never missed a world final tournament. They got silver in 2005 in Russia and bronze in 2015 in Denmark.
Football — Romania’s national football team will play in Group C alongside the Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria, if they manage to qualify to EURO 2020, according to the drawing of lots that took place Saturday in Bucharest. Romania’s capital will host 4 matches of the Euro 2020 final, three in the group stage and one in the round of 16. The Romanian footballers have not managed to pass the preliminary stage but they still have chances to qualify after the Nations League playoffs, following which 4 national teams will go to Euro 2020. Romania will take on Iceland on March 26 and if they wins they will play on March 31 with the winner of the match pitting Bulgaria against Hungary. According to UEFA, the total costs for the organization of the European championship in the summer of 2020 stand at 680 million Euros, while revenues exceed 2 billion Euros. One million tickets will be put up for sale between December 4th and 18th for the supporters of the 20 qualified national teams, the Romanian Football Federation announced. If Romania’s national team qualifies, they will play at least 2 matches in Bucharest. (translation by L. Simion)
